it was 4.30 pm on sunday the 8th of september and it was time to go and see the guy I'd only briefly spoken to on the phone for about 10minutes , after having left a raggy note on his bike at work , asking what the bike was and would he maybe be interested in selling it.

After battling through the sunday afternoon traffic , and being sent all over the place by an electronic joanna lumley , I arrived at the house , and was greeted by this guy I'd spoke to over the phone, he didn't look anything like I'd imagined , and was built like a brick S*it house, so thought I'd better be nice too him ,pay the full asking we'd discussed over the phone and leave.

A few cups of tea and a general chit chat about bikes and work later , we walked into his garage and he had 20 or so bikes and bits and bobs hanging up all over the place , the one I'd spotted at work was hung next to a full carbon trek thing that he'd only picked up yesterday , he went on to tell me how he 'used' to be into his bikes big time , dread to think what he 'used' to own,

He went on to lift, what he called 'nigel the work bike' down from the racking and was saying how heavy it was, I went to pick it up and despite all the junk over the bike it felt a lot lighter than my univega.

He was saying how he liked the bike and had bought it from a friend some years ago , he seemed to think it was a serotta , but the years had past him and could not remember if this one was or not, he went on to say that he'd not used it much as it was a little too small for him and only used it now and then for work so needed a good clean, the only thing he wanted to keep was the wheels, but told me he had the original wheels and tyres for it that I could take instead along with a few other bits that he didn't have any use for.

A cup of tea, a black squashed tubed mystery bike and a box full of bits later, an exchange of currency took place , and 'nigel' the bike was mine

Need to get the spit and polish out , then see what were looking at underneath all this poop..

I'll be the first to say no it's not poo. I remember reading the MBUK review of the Serotta T-Max years ago and it was very good, I seem to remember them say at the time that they felt that this would be the lightest steel frame you would be able to buy and a geared build in the low 20 pound region was possible. It certainly looks to have the heavily bi-oval Max-OR nivacrom tubes to me. Hope it was a decent and fair price you paid.

I remember the T Max from BITD but am the first to admit I don't know much about them. I had a look in the gallery and on Google but couldn't see one that has the rear brake noodle though. Reckon it's something decent regardless

I owned a T-Max, it was the lightest and best handling steel bike I've ever had. The downtube looks about right, with heavy ovalisation at either end, and I seem to remember a similar brake noodle on the seat cluster.... They had deep and heavily ovalised chainstays too but I can't tell whether yours has from the pics.

Took her for a quick spin around the block and have to say it seems to run really nicely, brakes on the back are lethal lol

It helps as I love the design and the look of the brake too.

Pedersen self engergising brakes. The brake is basically on a helical thread and the rim dragging the pad forward tightens the pad onto the rim.There are 3 versions to my knowledge.PedersensScott PedersensSuntour

Suntour licensed the design for their top end XC Pro gruppo but only did them for the rears. Scott also licensed them and called them Scott Pedersen. Both the Scott and Pedersen versions were available as F + R sets.

Cant be sure but yours look like the one of the Scott or Pedersen versions.

There was also a myth/legend that they were too risky for front brakes when used with suspension, especially on forks with weak braces and lots of lateral movement - with a risk of grabby "autobraking" if they hit the rim - which is maybe why Suntour didnt offer them as fronts. I know some members on here have run them with no complaints though..

Took her for a quick spin around the block and have to say it seems to run really nicely, brakes on the back are lethal lol

It helps as I love the design and the look of the brake too.

Pedersen self engergising brakes. The brake is basically on a helical thread and the rim dragging the pad forward tightens the pad onto the rim.There are 3 versions to my knowledge.PedersensScott PedersensSuntour

Suntour licensed the design for their top end XC Pro gruppo but only did them for the rears. Scott also licensed them and called them Scott Pedersen. Both the Scott and Pedersen versions were available as F + R sets.

Cant be sure but yours look like the one of the Scott or Pedersen versions.

There was also a myth/legend that they were too risky for front brakes when used with suspension, especially on forks with weak braces and lots of lateral movement - with a risk of grabby "autobraking" if they hit the rim - which is maybe why Suntour didnt offer them as fronts. I know some members on here have run them with no complaints though..

Definitely not Suntour I have the XC SE one on my Raleigh Team and they are very different being very smooth and curvaceous as opposed to the industrial design of the Scotts or Pedersons.

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